The Philadelphia 76ers were able to pick up a wild 147-143 win over the Indiana Pacers on the road on Monday to improve to 3-1 on this current five-game road trip. The Sixers have had to pick up wins in a variety of ways and Monday was no different as they were stuck in a track meet with the Pacers.
Philadelphia was able to have offensive success mostly due to James Harden and his orchestrating of the team’s offense, but Joel Embiid had yet another huge night out on the floor. The big fella had 42 points on 11-for-16 shooting and he made all 19 of his free throws. It was obvious that the Pacers didn’t have much of an answer for him.
“He’s a monster,” Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton told reporters of Embiid. “He’s tough to guard. He gets to the free throw at will. He didn’t miss a free throw and he’s so skilled. He can score at every level and I don’t want to take away from James and 20 assists and directing and getting them in the right spots.”
Haliburton had a huge night of his own as he had 40 points and 16 assists to lead the Pacers, but his night wasn’t enough to lift Indiana. The Sixers had too much going with Embiid leading the way.
“Listen, he’s short-rolling and hitting fadeaway mid-range jumpers,” Haliburton continued. “I don’t know what there is to do when he’s making them at that high of a rate. He’s a tough cover for anybody. It was tough for us to scheme against.”
Other than Embiid being dominant, the Sixers were able to get big nights out of Tyrese Maxey (24 points) and Jalen McDaniels (20) in the starting lineup while also getting contributions off the bench. Shake Milton had 15 and Danuel House Jr. had 10 for the second unit.
“I give kudos to the other guys,” Haliburton finished. “They stepped up a lot. McDaniels, Tyrese was really hot early and kept going throughout the game. I think Danuel House hit some big shots. They had a lot of guys step up that help alongside of that. So when they’re clicking like that, they’re a really tough team to beat.”
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